1. Field
Example embodiments of the following description relate to a deodorization and sterilization apparatus and method, and more particularly, a deodorization and sterilization apparatus and method, which increases an amount of generated active species and collects floating bacteria or odor materials in air at one place, such that the active species make contact with the collected floating bacteria or odor materials to achieve high-efficiency sterilization and deodorization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the requirements of air quality control in living environments, such as sterilization or deodorization, have become more stringent due to the increase in persons suffering from atopy, asthma and allergies, and the increase in the risk of infectious diseases represented as explosive spread of new types of influenza. Further, as society becomes increasingly affluent, an amount of storage food increases or an opportunity to store leftovers increases, and thus, importance of controlling an environment in storage equipment, such as a refrigerator, increases.
In order to control air quality in living environments, physical control generally using a filter was conventionally executed. Through physical control, relatively large dust floating in air and/or bacteria or viruses may be trapped according to sizes of filter holes. Further, activated carbon having numerous absorption sites may trap odorous molecules. However, since, in order to trap such substances, air in a space of a target object to be controlled needs to completely pass through the filter, an apparatus needs to be large, maintenance cost required to replace the filter is increased, and the apparatus has no effect upon attached particles. Therefore, in order to achieve sterilization and deodorization of the attached particles, chemically active species may be discharged to a space desired to be sterilized or deodorized. When a medicine is distributed or an aromatic or a deodorizer is discharged, active species need to be prepared in advance and periodic supplement of the active species is indispensable. On the other hand, units which generate plasma in the atmosphere and attempt sterilization and deodorization using chemical active species generated due to plasma generation have recently been increasingly proposed.
Technology for generating plasma in the atmosphere through discharge and achieving sterilization and deodorization by ions or radicals (hereinafter, referred to as active species) generated thereby, may be classified into two types described below:
(1) A passive plasma generation apparatus which causes bacteria or viruses floating within the atmosphere (hereinafter, referred to as floating bacteria) or odorous materials (hereinafter, referred to as odors) to react with active species within a restricted volume in the apparatus (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-224211)
(2) An active plasma generation apparatus which discharges active species generated by a plasma generation unit into a closed space (for example, a living room, a bath room, the inside of a car, etc) having a larger volume than the passive plasma generation apparatus and causes the discharged active species to react with floating bacteria or odors due to collision with the floating bacteria or odors in the atmosphere (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-79714).
The passive plasma generation apparatus may be advantageous in that high sterilization and deodorization effects are expected through generation of active species of a high concentration due to generation of plasma in a small volume. However, the passive plasma generation apparatus may be disadvantageous in that the floating bacteria or odors need to be introduced into the apparatus, and thus, the size of the apparatus is increased, ozone as a byproduct due to plasma generation is generated, and separate installation of a filter to absorb or decompose ozone to prevent ozone from leaking to the outside of the apparatus is required.
Further, the active plasma generation apparatus may be advantageous in that the size of the apparatus is relatively decreased and sterilization of bacteria attached to the surfaces of clothes or household goods (hereinafter, referred to as attached bacteria) or decomposition of odors absorbed to the surfaces is expected, in addition to sterilization of floating bacteria or decomposition of odors in air. However, the active plasma generation apparatus may be disadvantageous in that the concentration of active species is decreased due to diffusion of the active species into a considerably large closed space as compared with the volume of the apparatus, and thus, sterilization and deodorization are expected only upon active species having a long life. Consequently, deodorization effects are scarcely expected in a space having a high concentration of odors (concentration 10,000 times greater than the concentration of the active species).
As described above, the passive plasma generation apparatus exhibits effects restricted to floating bacteria or odors contained in an air flow introduced into the apparatus, and the active plasma generation apparatus exhibits effects only upon floating bacteria, attached bacteria and odors having a low concentration. That is, the conventional plasma generation apparatuses may achieve either sterilization of floating bacteria and deodorization, or sterilization of floating bacteria and attached bacteria having a low concentration and deodorization of attached odors having a low concentration.
However, there are several situations in daily life in which both sterilization of attached bacteria and deodorization of odors of a high concentration are desired to be simultaneously achieved. Typically, within a refrigerating chamber of a refrigerator, bacteria attached to the surfaces of foods or storage containers are present, and odors generated from foods and remaining food waste are present.